Best substrate for Pinguicula?

[Muckydoo]

I've tried a new recipe out and I've had pretty good success with it so far. It's not my creation, I actually found it on an old YouTube video.

I'm just going to list the amounts as parts instead of measurements so you can make as much or as little as you want as long as you use equal parts for each step.

Recipe
4 part peat
4 parts #12 silica sand
3 parts pumice
2 parts perlite
1 part fluval stratum


4 parts peat. Mine was a bit dry but still fluffy.

I add 4 parts #12 silica sand
Bought it at a pool supply store and it's called pool filter sand.

I add water now and use the sand as an abrasive to break apart all the peat clumps if there are any. You should end up with a nice mixture with no lumps.

Next I add 3 parts pumice and 2 parts perlite. Add a bit of water to wet both. You're not looking to make soup so just enough to get everything wet.
Mix well.

After that is mixed, add 1 part fluval stratum. I do the step last because it's the most delicate and I carefully mix by hand because I don't want to crush the little pellets. They are fairly resilient and you shouldn't have any problems but if you're really rough with them they can break apart.

The pots I use had lots of drainage holes, on the bottom and up the edge a bit. I add some peat just to fill the bottom layer and cover all the holes so that the fine silica sand and other parts don't fall out when you water.

Just peat and a bit of perlite. This is optional, and only if you find the mix falls out the bottom.

Fill with the mix and plant your pings!

If you don't have all the ingredients don't worry. Substitute things for other things, experiment and kill some plants. Killing plants feels terrible, but you learn stuff.

***********Optional mineral topping*****

Now just from personal experience on my own plants, certain species seem to like a dryer mix on the top.
I have found that the plants in the ehlersiae, esseriana and jaumavensis family seem to like a 1/4 inch of mineral mix on top.

You can use whatever you want but I use.
One part chunky diatomaceous earth
One part 1/4 inch lava rock
One part silica sand
One part turface

But any mineral mixture you want to make that does not have peat in it should be fine.
The post Steve did lists a few mineral mixes.

 

[JosephElliott]

I have had my gigantea and moranesis on pure crushed limestone (from the local farm supply) for just about a year from now. They seem to be doing well and the flowers seem slightly more saturated with color than when they were in lfs.

 

[jeff]

I always base myself on their 'in situ' conditions
for the Mexicans, many are from calcareous or even gypsicole environments and some from more organic environments
for the temperate ping it is the same thing or even species that tolerate the 2 environments (acid and limestone)
for the subtropical US I use this substrat peat - river sand 30/70 this substrat also seems to work well for many horticultural hybrids

 

[Agierys]

Hey everyone, this thread is a follow up to a previous discussion found here:

https://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/39337-solid-ping-medium-with-plaster-of-paris/

Basically, I love ping rocks and I wanted to mimic their natural habitat as lithophytes.

The recipe that I used is 1:1:1 peat, my Calcareous ping mix (dolomite, river sand, perlite, lava rock) and plaster of Paris (PoP)

Im going to try another mix today this time more similar to standard hyper tufa with 1:1:1 peat, perlite and PoP.

Here are some pictures from this morning. They still need to cure but I really like the texture already.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

Very interesting, follow up would be nice.

 

[jeff]

please no plaster of Paris your substrate if it is dry will be as hard as concrete ,chemical products (starch, to improve the adhesion between the plaster and the cardboard, adjuvants, retarders to modify the setting times of the plaster, dyes, various additives, etc.) are also used. for me not good for plants.

see in photo what it can give me on longifolia subsp longifolia in pot or in riprap

my substrate for most the mexican and the temperate ping :
50% cat liter
12.5%river sand
12.5%calcareous sand
12.5%vermiculite
12.5% pouzzolane

 

[Muckydoo]

It should be ok. If it's DAP brand, then the MSDS says it's just 3 ingredients.

I tried this before, but the batch I made was too crumbly. I was too lazy to make another batch after that.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

'Gypsum plaster, white cementing material made by partial or complete dehydration of the mineral gypsum, commonly with special retarders or hardeners added. Applied in a plastic state (with water), it sets and hardens by chemical recombination of the gypsum with water.'

It's not a food, so the ingredients of "Plaster of Paris" might include the substances that Jeff mentioned.
You could make your own mix with garden lime. Be careful with exposure and breathing any of these dusty mixtures.

 

[Agierys]

This is why im experimenting! If it goes catastrophic yall will know not to do it! Just like how some people on fb swear to add compost to gigantea mix... Doesn't work lol.

 

[Agierys]

It should be ok. If it's DAP brand, then the MSDS says it's just 3 ingredients.
View attachment 15195

I tried this before, but the batch I made was too crumbly. I was too lazy to make another batch after that.

I am using DAP

 

[Agierys]

'Gypsum plaster, white cementing material made by partial or complete dehydration of the mineral gypsum, commonly with special retarders or hardeners added. Applied in a plastic state (with water), it sets and hardens by chemical recombination of the gypsum with water.'

It's not a food, so the ingredients of "Plaster of Paris" might include the substances that Jeff mentioned.
You could make your own mix with garden lime. Be careful with exposure and breathing any of these dusty mixtures.

I used a mask! Pretty easy since they are in nearly every drawer of my house atm

 

[jeff]

have you tried cat litter, non-clumping and non-flavored ?

the plaster of paris, which I know well since I have been to see the gypsum quarries around Paris (moreover I use this gypsum for my gypsicole ping) and the manufacture of this ingredient makes me a little scared for my plants.

 

[ergonomicgrip]

Would grout or ultracal work better? I'm not sure if the same chemicals Jeff described would be present in them. Plaster of paris is kinda notorious in the antkeeping community for being very prone to mold growth.

 

[Agierys]

I have not @jeff any brands you recommend?

 

[Agierys]

I did know know that @ergonomicgrip . I'll keep an eye out for early mold growth

 

[jeff]

what do you hear by ' brands ' ? materials for the substrate ?

 

[Agierys]

@jeff the brand of cat litter you use

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

I imagine Jeff uses a non-clumping/no fragrance clay kitty litter. His brand would be a French one.

 

[Agierys]

Im assuming im looking for claybased? Or silica sand based... Found some super weird stuff like walnut shell cat litter lol

 

[Muckydoo]

I think non-clumping European cat litter is a different than in North America.

I believe here it's diatomaceous earth.
And it's some kind of clay in Europe.

@stevebradford has a post with materials and I think he listed oilsorb as an alternative.
I've used it in a mix before, no negative effects found. Can't say it did any good either lol.